Academic Integrity and Procedures Regarding Violations of Code and Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity Policy 

Manhattanville University is a community of scholars who are committed to academic excellence. To accomplish this goal, members of the University must be able to collaborate in a spirit of trust, care, and respect. All violations of academic integrity undermine such collaboration. All members of the campus community have an obligation to report any suspected instance of academic dishonesty to the designee within their School. 

All students will be held accountable to the University’s and their School's policy on academic integrity, whether or not the policy is explicitly specified in a course syllabus. Thus, all students are responsible for becoming familiar with the definitions, procedures and sanctions outlined in the University's Academic Integrity Policy and their School's Academic Integrity Policy. 

Designees by School: 
School of Arts and Sciences: Associate Dean of School of Arts and Sciences
School of Education: Associate Dean for Graduate Programs or Designee 
School of Nursing and Health Sciences: Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

Academic Integrity Committees by School: 
School of Arts and Sciences: Academic Integrity Committee
School of Education: Graduate Academic Standards Committee 
School of Nursing and Health Sciences: Academic Integrity Committee

 

Definition of Academic Dishonesty 

Academic Dishonesty is any action that may result in an unfair academic advantage for oneself or others, including, but not limited to: 

• Plagiarism: Offering as one's own the words, ideas, arguments, code, or visuals (any medium, including electronic) of another. Appropriate citation (according to course instructor) with quotation marks, references and/or footnotes, is required when using any aspect of another’s work; the failure to do so, whether intentional or not, constitutes plagiarism. Copying homework or answers on an exam or report, submitting a term paper from the archives of a group or from another student, procuring a paper from an external source (electronic or otherwise) and submitting it as one’s own are additional, though not exhaustive, examples of plagiarism. 

• False citation: Providing false information about a source. This includes citing a title, author and page as if it were from one source when, in fact, it is from a different source, or including information that did not come from the cited source. 
• Cheating on exams and/or falsely claiming to have completed assigned work. 
• Forgery: Signing a faculty member’s, administrator’s or other student’s name to any assignment, or to any written or electronic communication about a course, or altering/forging said document or communication in order to mislead or to circumvent University policy. 
• Falsification: Altering any official University document, paper or examination to mislead others; or, any deception (written, oral, or electronic) of a University official in an attempt to circumvent University policy. 
• Computer abuse: Students are required to acknowledge any information, from word texts to full programs, that is not their own. In addition, infringing on the rights of other students to gain access to the computer system, deliberately destroying or infecting files, operating systems or code, copying files or programs without permission, and gaining access to and/or altering the functionality or stored data of any University or other student’s computer without permission are all considered incidents of academic dishonesty. 
• Destruction, theft or displacement of any library or other shared materials whether hard copy or electronic. 
• Multiple submissions: Work done for one course cannot be submitted for another course. Exceptions may be made only with the express written permission of both course instructors. 
• Unauthorized collaboration on academic assignments. 
• Aiding another student in the commission of academic dishonesty. 
• Making materials from any academic course (including, but not limited to, assignments, papers, quizzes, or tests) available to persons outside the class. This includes uploading to an online site not pre-approved by the course instructor. Such actions may also constitute a violation of the Intellectual Property Policy.

Sanctions for Academic Misconduct 
The sanction for any act of academic misconduct may include, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: rewriting the assignment, failing the assignment, failing the course, taking a mandated workshop or other remedial course, academic warning or probation, a hold placed on course registration or course registration cancelled, graduation disallowed with a hold on diploma, a hold on transcripts, disqualification from honors or other awards, disqualification for internships, denial of recommendations for professional certification, denial of or removal from placement for student teaching, suspension, or expulsion. 

Procedures Regarding Violations of Academic Integrity
The primary responsibility for identifying an instance of academic misconduct, and for determining the sanction for both the assignment in question and the course, lies with the instructor of the course. When an instructor has found what s/he considers to be an instance of academic misconduct, s/he must notify the relevant Department/Division Chair and submit the Manhattanville University Academic Misconduct Reporting Form (hereafter referred to as Reporting Form) to the School Designee. Academic misconduct may also be identified and reported by a member of the staff or administration. Students will not be permitted to withdraw from a course for which an offense has been reported, unless the school’s Academic Integrity Committee, as a result of a hearing, permits such a withdrawal. 

All Academic Integrity procedures will proceed in the following manner: 

The Department/Division Chair and the School Designee will be notified. The student and course instructor may meet to discuss the alleged academic misconduct and the sanction, if applicable. The course instructor will submit a Reporting Form and a summary of that discussion to the School Designee. If for some reason the instructor and student cannot meet (e.g. the offense was found after classes stopped meeting at the end of the semester, the instructor is no longer at Manhattanville, the instructor opts for the student to meet directly with the School Designee, or the misconduct issue happens outside of a course) the student will meet with the School Designee. Failure to do so within 30 business days will result in the student being found responsible for the Academic Integrity Violation. 

The student and School Designee will meet and complete the Reporting Form. If the student does not dispute the finding of the instructor/School Designee, the decision and sanction recorded on the Reporting Form are final. The form will remain a part of the student’s record, managed by the School Designee, in compliance with the University’s Record Retention Policy.*

If the student disputes the finding of the course instructor, the student may indicate so in his/her meeting with the School Designee. The School Designee will discuss the charge with the student and explain the procedures for meeting with the appropriate academic integrity committee (Academic Integrity Committee or Graduate Academic Standards Committee, hereafter referred to as the Committee). The School Designee will then notify the chairperson of the appropriate Committee and that Committee will review the case with the student in a closed regularly scheduled meeting. During this meeting the Committee will review all relevant evidence presented, including any new evidence. The Committee will seek information from the course instructor and/or other affected parties. The Committee may uphold the finding and sanction, overturn the finding and sanction, or impose an alternative sanction. 

For students who have previously been sanctioned under this policy, a second alleged violation must be adjudicated by the appropriate Committee. Sanctions will be more severe in the case of repeat violations. In such repeat offenses, the possibility of an appeal to the Academic Integrity Review Committee will be available. 

*Hard copies of academic integrity documents will be filed in the office of the respective school Designee. Digital versions will be stored in the secure Academic Integrity folder on the Manhattanville server. Access to this folder is limited to members of the Academic Standards Committee, Graduate Academic Standards Committee, and the Designee from each school. 
 

Appeals

Where the student disputes the decision of the Academic Integrity Committee, s/he may ask for a formal review within 5 business days of notification of the decision. The written appeal will be made to the Provost. Such an appeal will only be considered on the basis of procedural error or new evidence that might have resulted in a different decision. If the aforementioned procedures have been followed as determined by the Provost, the Provost will act as a facilitator and call an ad hoc Academic Integrity Review Committee (AIRC). The AIRC will be made up of five members from across the University including one graduate or undergraduate student, depending on the level of the student appealing, at least two faculty members, and at least one Dean or Designee. Each member of the AIRC must be newly apprised of the offense and be capable of rendering an impartial decision. The AIRC will invite the student to a closed meeting. During this meeting the AIRC will review all relevant evidence in reference to procedural unfairness or any new evidence that might have resulted in a different decision. The AIRC may uphold the finding and sanction, overturn the finding and sanction, or impose alternative sanctions. The decision of the AIRC is final.